Fire escape slide



Jan. 16, 1962 Filed March 8, 1960 S. GOGOL ETAL FIRE ESCAPE SLIDE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Sfefan 6090] Leo C Gogu/ INVENTORS Jan. 16, 1962 s. GOGOLETAL. 3,016,975

FIRE ESCAPE SLIDE Filed March 8, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /4 F /6. 5 mSfefan Gogol Leo C- Gagu/ INVENTORS Unite tts atent 3,016,975 PatentedJan. 16, 1962 3,016,975 FIRE ESCAPE SLIDE Stefan Gogol, 1716 E. 26th St,and Leo C. Gogul, 6405 Edward Ava, both of Ashtahula, Ohio Filed Mar. 8,1960, Ser. No. 13,644 3 Claims. (Cl. 182-48) This invention relatesgenerally to fire escapes, and more specifically to a retractable slidetype escape for use between a window and the ground.

A fire escape is considered an essential safety measure for buildingshaving more than one floor. Such an escape generally consists of a metalstaircase constructed on the outside of the building, and having anentry point at each floor level. This escape, though practical, hasseveral disadvantages. Upkeep costs are high, as a result of painting,inspection and periodic repairs. In operation, they are satsifactoryproviding there are only a limited number of people using the escape,and providing the fire or smoke caused thereby is not in the vicinity ofthe escape. In the event of there being excessive smoke in the vicinity,panic is likely to arise and the stairs themselves become a dangerousescape route, particularly at night or under inclement weatherconditions. As a result of these inadequacies, we have invented anescape apparatus which is exceedingly rapid and efiicient and whichovercomes the above disadvantages.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a fireescape apparatus which may be stored inside the dwelling in aconveniently folded manner ready for instant use.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a fire escapeapparatus which is constructed in the form of a slide such that theapparatus cannot become congested during use.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a fire escapeapparatus of the above class which is constructed in an efficient mannerfor economical production.

The invention consists of a series of slidingly engaging sections whichare adapted to extend outwardly and downwardly to the ground from awindow opening to form a smooth concave chute on which a person mayslide. Each section slides beneath a succeeding section so as to form torectangular pile which is stored conveniently in a specially designedbox located on a fioor inwardly of a window. An angular bracket ispermanently secured on the outer wall beneath the window ledge toestablish the angle at which the chute will extend, and a permanentlanding frame may be constructed on the ground to slow up the descent ofthe user.

A full understanding of the construction of this invention, togetherwith further novel features and advantages, will be had from thefollowing detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, takenin conjunction with the attached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the fire escape chute extended foroperation.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus folded within a storagecontainer shown with a side removed.

FIG. 3 is a fragmetary view of the slide shown extended for operation.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional side elevation of the slide supportingmembers.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the folded relation of the handrails within the storage box.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral views in the drawing.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the numeral 10 represents theouter wall of a building having vertically spaced floors 11 and a windowopening 12.

The slide is constructed from a number of identical slide sections 13.Each section consists of two parallel spaced apart tubes 14. The upperend of each tube is secured to a cross member 15 which supports theunderside of the upper end of a curved slide plate 16. The slide platehas opposing side edges securly fixed to the inwardly directed portionof the upper halves of the tubes 14. Small grooves 17 are pressed intothe sides of the plate 16 adjacent the tubes 14 to provide a channel toslidingly receive nylon cords 18. The underside of each tube 14 isprovided with a longitudinal slot 19 which is closed at each end. Theupper side of each tube 14 is welded to a spacer 20 which extends at.least of the length thereof from the upper end. Mounted rigidly on thespacer 20 parallel with the tube is a length of tubing 21, adapted toslidably locate within another tube 14 which forms part of the adjacentslide section. The spacer locates within the slot 19 and controls thelimits of travel of the tubing 21 within the tube 14. Initial assemblyof the slide sections 13 is made before the end caps 22, which extendnormally from the end of each cross member 15, are sealed over the upperends of the tubes 14. From the View shown in FIG. 4, it will be seenthat successive slide sections are free to retract over each other toform a rectangular pile shown in FIG. 2. The uppermost slide section 13has lugs 2-3 secured to the ends of the tubes 14. The ends of the lugsare provided with holes 24 which pivotally engage at 48 with the forwardportion of a container lid 26.

A container 46 which locates on the door 11 beneath the window opening12 consists of a rectangular box having a base 27, a rear wall 28 andtwo side panels 29 joined in a fixed relationship. A front panel 30 ishinged at the lower end to the base 27 by a pin 31, and is adapted toswing outwardly to the floor as seen in FIG. 1. The lid of the'containerhas a rear hinged portion 32 which pivots about the top of the rear wall28,. and a forward portion 26 which is hinged at 47 to the front end ofthe rear portion 32, and completes the closure of the container. The lidis shown open in FIG. 1, and indicates the respective length of the twoportions 32 and 26. Portion 32 extends upwardly to the surface of thewindow opening, and portion 26 is adapted to hinge at 47 to extendthrough the window opening and terminate at the edge of the wall 10.

Two L-shaped wire frames 33 are joined at one end in horizontal spacedapart relation by an upturned horizontal retaining bar 34. The two armsof each L frame 33 are braced by ties 35 which retain the arms normallywith respect to each other. The connected frames are adapted to locatein the bottom of the container and are pivotally connected by hingeplates 36 to the ends of the pin 31 which hinges the front panel 30 tothe base 27. Upwardly extending arms 37 of the frames 33 terminate withoutwardly extending tabs 38 which are adapted to be selectively securedto the front panel 30 by a rod which releasably extends through thewidth of the front panel.

Two hand guard rails 39 have supporting legs 40 and connecting hand railportions 41. One end of the upper supporting leg is pivotally mountedthrough drilled tabs 42 in conjunction with the end slide section lugs24 to the forward end of lid portion 26.

A wedge shaped bracket 43 is securely mounted to the wall 10 beneath thewindow opening 12. This bracket controls the angle of slope of theextended slide.

A landing frame 44 having a curved sliding surface 45 is permanentlysecured in the ground at a fixed distance from the wall 10 such thatwhen the escape slide is fully extended, the end of the slide will reston top of the upper end of the sliding surface 45 and provide a changein sliding direction which cases the landing during escape.

The operation of the escape will be described with reference chiefly toFIGS. 1, 2 and 6. The full container which conceals the contracted andstored apparatus, is shown in FIG. 2. The front panel 30 is openedtoward the floor. This action causes pivotal movement of the wire frames33. The retaining bar 34 which engages behind the hand rail portions 41pivots about hinge 47 causing the stack of slide sections to pivotupwardly. The sections are retained in stacked relationship by the handrail portions 41. The rail legs 40 are now grasped in the hands andurged toward the window opening 12 causing the rear lid portion 26 topivot and engage with the wall, and the forward lid portion 32 to pivotover the sill to bring the lugs 24 and hand rail tabs 42 adjacent theapex of the wedged shaped bracket 43. At this point the stacked slidesections will be completely inverted and located in a vertical manner onthe window ledge with the retaining rail portions 41 in a verticalstance inwardly of the window openig. Further outward pivotal movementwill be at the pivotal point 48 to which the lugs 23 of the top slidesection 13 is secured. Hand rail portions 41 no longer restrict theslide sections from sliding relative to each other, with the result thatthe several sections slide out from between the hand rail legs 40 andextend downwardly to terminate on top of the landing frame 44. A rapidescape slide is thus efiectively assembled for operation with the handrail 41 in position to steady the user while climbing through thewindow.

The escape may be retracted with the aid of the nylon cords 18 whichextend along each side of the curved slide plates 16 in grooves 17. Thecords are drawn up from within the window which causes the slidesections to slide beneath each other until they are once again orientedin block form within the hand rail legs 40. The pin is removed from thetabs 38 which secure the arms 37 of the frames 33 to the front containerpanel 30. The frames may now pivot to the position shown in FIG. 2,leaving the panel 30 on the floor. The stacked slide sections arereturned into the container carrying out the steps previously describedin a reverse manner. With the slide sections now in the container, thefront panel 30 is swung back into position and the retaining pin isreplaced through the tabs 38 and the panel 30, in readiness for anotheremergency.

While we have described this device as an escape apparatus, it will beappreciated that it could serve wherever there is a need for aretractible slide chute, such as in the unloading of commercial goodsfrom trucks or other means of transportation.

Having described the invention with considerable par" ticularity, itshould be understood that various modifications may be made to thedetail thereof, without departing from the scope or spirit of theinvention, as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A fire escape apparatus, comprising, in combina tion, a containerlocated on a floor beneath a window opening, a lid hinged to a wallembracing side of said container and adapted to open and terminate onthe outer side of said window opening, a slide constructed from a seriesof plates having identical tubular members supportingly engagingopposite edges of the plate, said tubular members connected together ina superimposed spaced manner and adapted to slidably retract beneatheach other to form a substantially rectangnrlar block to be received insaid container, said slide pivotally secured at one end to said lid, andadapted to extend downwardly from said opening to the ground at an angleformed by a wedge shaped bracket secured beneath the outer side of saidwindow opening, a support hand rail pivotally secured to one end of saidslide and adapted to receive said rectangular block formed by theretracted slide, and a landing frame located on the ground to receivethe other end of said slide.

2. A fire escape apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said containerconsists of a rectangular box having a front panel hinged to a base foropening to the level of said floor, an L-shaped bracket selectivelysecured to said front panel and adapted to extend over said base andengage beneath portions of said hand rail, and wherein said lidcomprises two hinged sections, one of said lid sections being hinged toa wall engaging side of said container and adapted to hinge upwardly toembrace a wall and terminate at said window opening and the other ofsaid lid sections being hinged to an end of said first mentioned lidsection and adapted to extend through said window opening and terminateat the outer side of said wall.

3. A fire escape apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tubularmembers are spaced in a parallel relationship by a support membersecured across the upper ends of the members, and wherein the slideplate is curved and extends between upper portions of the tubularmembers and supported by the support member, slots formed longitudinallyin the underside of the tubular members, slide connecting tubes rigidlymounted adjacent the upper side of said tubular members and extendingparallel therewith to slidably engage within similar adjacent tubularmembers through the slots formed therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS192,500 Goble June 26, 1877 1,090,510 Williams Mar. 17, 1914 1,196,419Banyovits Aug. 29, 1916 1,364,581 Ramsey Jan. 1, 1921 1,520,440 PyleXDec. 23, 1924 2,163,755 Labruzzo June 27, 1939 2,705,144 Ridgway Mar.29, 1955 new? a.

